(HealthDay News) – As the use of the dope it is legalized and accepted more in everything USAmore older people are developing unhealthy relationships with the drug, a recent report suggests.
A look at data from nearly 56 million Medicare beneficiaries finds that “rates of healthcare encounters with cannabis-related disorders increased from 2017 to 2022″, according to a study led by the Dr. Silvia Pérez-Vilarof the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of USA.
The analysis of fda team included all Medicare beneficiaries except nursing home residents. It focused on Medicare claims that mentioned any medical incidents related to cannabis use.
The figures showed a Steady increase in health care related to cannabis among older people during the five years of the study. In 2022“the rates were higher in the states or territories with legalized medical and adult use” the team found, with about 45 such cases recorded per 10,000 claims Medicare.
Rates of claims related to cannabis were slightly lower in states where medical marijuana was legal, but recreational use was not (41.5 cases per 10,000). In the state where marijuana use was still illegal for recreational or medical reasons, the rate of care related to dope among older people fell to 27.7 cases per 10,000, the research team said. Pérez-Vilar.
Experts have expressed concern due to the increase in addictions and mental health crises related to cannabis highly powerful in recent years, mainly among young people.
For example, a recent study found that Adolescents who use cannabis face 11 times more likely to suffer a psychotic episode compared to adolescents who abstain from the drug.
The new study suggests that These dangers could extend to older adults. “Overall, the data suggest that increasing rates of health care encounters documenting health-related disorders cannabis between the older adults could be associated with the type of cannabis legalization“said the team of the FDA. The findings were published in the issue of June 18 of the magazine JAMA Network Open.
* More information about the possible health harms of cannabis use from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. SOURCE: JAMA Network Open, June 18, 2024
*Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporters ©The New York Times 2024
